Pressley: Derby defeat will inspire Fleetwood

Steven Pressley admits Fleetwood lost their way for a vital half-hour at Blackpool but insists his side will be inspired by their derby defeat.

Nathan Pond’s own goal settled a remarkable clash, in which Blackpool didn’t manage a single shot on target but claimed all three points.

Pressley admitted his men were hurting after drawing a blank at Bloomfield Road, where they were unable to turn domination into goals.

The Town manager said: “We have to use the feelings we had in the dressing room as a motivation going forward.

“I think for the six weeks I’ve been here the players have been immense in their attitude, with everything we’ve asked of them.

“In the second half in particular we hemmed them in. We played in the way I want to see Fleetwood play without quite getting the end product.

“But there’s no doubt we deserved more from the game than we got. Bar the goal, our goalkeeper really didn’t have a save to make.

“But ultimately you have to score goals to win games and we didn’t do that.”

After the goal Fleetwood’s pressing game slipped, Town wasting half an hour as they allowed Pool to dictate.

It proved crucial – Fleetwood turned up the pressure after the interval but couldn’t to find a way past keeper Dean Lyness and ran out of ideas.

Pressley said: “We had a lot of domination but we allowed a 30-minute period to affect us. Just after we lost the goal, we stopped doing the things we’ve been doing constantly for a period and allowed our game to get a bit fragmented.

“It was much more like us in the second half and I’m extremely disappointed for everybody as regards the result.”

Before Pond’s own goal, Fleetwood were twice denied inside the Blackpool box – Joe Davis with a shot hooked off the line by Hayden White, Lyness keeping out a curling David Henen shot.

But Pressley refused to tell any hard-luck tales. He said: “There were several moments early on when the game could have swung in our favour.

“We came here with six points from a possible six and we weren’t satisfied with that. We wanted nine from nine and we didn’t get that.”

Blackpool dug in after grabbing the advantage and Pressley showed his admiration for their way they frustrated his side.

“I didn’t think we carried any luck,” he said. “In the second half, credit to Blackpool – they tried to bring stoppages to the game. They tried to stop our momentum. They defended exceptionally well.

“But I certainly think we created enough opportunities to win, never mind draw.”

For all their defensive strength, Blackpool created very little – Jack Redshaw’s wayward blast after another defensive mix-up the closest they came to grabbing a second.

Chris Maxwell certainly wasn’t tested from a Blackpool boot, Pressley pointing to the lack of shots on target as a sign of his side’s domination.

“It’s quite amazing,” he said.

“That’s the frustration, we have a lot of domination, except for a 30 minute period.